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The Social Media Awards are happening for the first time in Lebanon and I thought it would be fun to share my nominations for the various categories listed. Before that, here’s how the selection process will occur:

Stage 1: Online Nominations
Members of the online community nominate candidates for different categories via our website www.SMABeirut.com. Users can nominate themselves, friends or an organization on business based on the criteria of each category. Their submission is accompanied by relevant material such as Facebook links, Twitter accounts, blogs and other platforms to support their candidates.

Stage 2: Judges Selection
Based on the nominations received, our team of experienced and celebrity judges from different backgrounds will be narrowing down the nominations in each category to seven (7) nominees within two weeks of closure of nominations. The whole process will be carried out in pure transparency and an announcement event will be held for the press and online community.

Stage 3: Final Vote
Members of the online community are asked to vote for their preference in each category over a period of one month. During this period, nominees will be able to campaign for obtaining votes.

Stage 4: Awards Ceremony
An awards ceremony will be held for over 750 invitees from digital agencies, VIPs and online influencers with entertainment, key guest appearances, and VIP guests bringing Oscar-like award glamour to social media. [SMABeirut]

I took a look at the judges’ list and the ones they chose are more than qualified for this job, with 1 or 2 exceptions which I will not name. One thing that I would have done differently is narrow down the nominations to 4, as I think 7 is too much.

Anyway back to the nominations, here it goes:

Best Blog of the YearBeirut Spring: I’ve always been astounded by the insights Mustapha provides on the Lebanese society and Lebanon in general despite being abroad. He is concise, convincing, methodical and is among the very few bloggers that I agree with almost always. Oh and he never misses a chance to throw in a new term in every post and make me look for it online.

Best News BlogHummus Nation – The good thing about Hummus Nation is that his news are always reliable because he makes them up.

Best Lifestyle BlogL’armoire De Lana – Lana has been pulling an impressive job ever since she launched her fashion blog. She’s posting daily, tweeting all day long, uploading pictures all the time. She’s doing it right and she totally deserves it.

Best Technology BlogTech-Ticker – A website founded by a group of Lebanese Technology enthusiasts covering the latest tech news and reviewing the most recent tech products.

Best Personal BlogGino’s Blog – Gino is truly commited to his blog and it shows through his posts. His views on certain topics are as far as they come from the conservative “Lebanese” thinking yet he manages to convince his readers most of the time. Neuromarketing at its best.

Most Engaging Media PersonalityMagazine: RagMag’s Editor in Chief Fida Chaaban.
She devotes a lot of times to social media and interacting with readers and that’s not something easy to pull. In fact I don’t think I know any other media personality as devoted as her.

Best PerformerNemr Abou Nassar: He was funnier when he started and I didn’t like his latest shows but he’s doing a great job online and deserves that award. The problem is here very few performers in Lebanon are active online to begin with.

Most Engaging Celebrity on Twitter
Celebrities in Lebanon have no idea how to use Twitter.

Most Engaging Media Personality on TwitterTV/Journalist:Shada Omar.
Despite having almost 100,000 followers on Twitter, Shada dedicates time to almost everyone that interacts with her and is always interesting to talk to.

As I had mentioned earlier, Jill Kelley hails from a Lebanese family (Khawan) that emigrated to Philadelphia in the 1970s. She worked as an unpaid social liaison to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa and used to host events at her million-dollar Bayshore Boulevard home. Jill & her husband Dr. Scott Kelley were good friends of the Patreus family. She has a twin sister Nathalie, an older sister Caroline and a brother called David Khawam. This is what he had to say when interviewed about his sister:

“This is something that’s going to brand her for life,” David Khawam, Kelley’s brother, told TODAY. “My sister, number one, is a mother. OK, she has three kids. She’s extremely dedicated to those kids. Number two, she’s a wife. She’s extremely dedicated to her husband. And he to her.” [Link]

So far, there hasn’t been any proof showing that Jill was Patreus’ second love, but the investigation that followed reveleaded some flirtatious emails between her and another U.S General, John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

The place is still the same, the atmosphere is great and I had a lot of fun, but I think 60$ is a bit too much specially that the buffet is small and food is average. I mean I had to wait at least 20-30 minutes at the grill to get a small piece of steak and an undercooked chicken breast.

Maybe it’s better if they charge us the 60$ and let waiters bring us drinks and food. Nevertheless, I still think it’s a great place to spend your Sunday at and would probably go one more time before it closes down mid-October.

So summer is here again and with it comes the annual influx of derogatory, poorly researched articles by western â€˜journalistsâ€™ doing their best to pick out the worst parts of Beirut culture after a quick holiday visiting a couple of nightclubs.

Last year CNN made a brave expedition through the jungle of Beirutâ€™s rooftop bars, encouraging the world to think that the city was populated entirely by sparkling idiots who couldnâ€™t care about tomorrow as long as the champagne was flowing and the iPhone still had enough battery to film the dead look in everyoneâ€™s eyes.

This year the Huffington Post have gone one step further, with a piece by David J Constable claiming that

â€˜Beirut has now overtaken both LA and Miami as the plastic surgery capital of the world.â€™ [Full Response]

I think this article is offensive, over-generalizing and pointless. [Article]

For a largely Arab country it’s a bizarre thing that in Lebanon (Beirut specifically), women care more about their appearance than men. Males lead a rather sullied existence, priming their closely cut mini-beards and, from my own observations, eating rather a lot. The formula in Lebanon’s capital for women is fashion-forward, from their choice of cloth to the decisions they make surgically. [Link]

I went to check out yesterday this Junkyard/Pop-up restaurant my friend told me about. I was told it’s on Mar Mikhail’s street some 100 meters after Chez Sophie’s restaurant to the right but I could not find it at first. I called him to ask for more directions and as it appears, I had passed right next to it twice and didn’t notice the place.

Parking lot that gets you to the Junkyard

Looking at the second picture, you would never think there’s a hangout place behind those small trees and around those old buildings but the truth is this open air restaurant/bar is the coolest thing I’ve seen yet in Lebanon. It has no name, a unique design with tables/chairs/bars/toilets made out of junks down to the smallest detail, a container as a kitchen and chill-out music.

Added to that, the place is surrounded by old residential buildings with some balconies directly overlooking it. I noticed many were sitting on their balconies drinking coffee or smoking arguile not bothered one single bit by this sort of pop-up restaurant and pub. It felt like it brought life to the whole neighborhood.

The kitchen is run by Thomas Reger, the executive chef at Le Sushi Bar and The Jasmine Room. To add to the place’s originality, there’s no set menu but daily dishes picked up by the chef. I had 3 appetizers, couscous with tomato, fresh tuna with peppers, Halloum with watermelon and all were good and refreshing dishes.

The man behind all that is Mario Haddad, who’s always investing in new and innovative ideas in Lebanon, seeking more self-satisfaction rather than just profits. You can read more about him in this article by LorientLeJour [Link].

Now the sad part is that the Junkyard will only open for 2-3 months and then close down before winter as it is not a viable nor sustainable project on the long-run. Nevertheless, if the idea were to work, I am sure the concept could be implemented in various locations on a yearly basis. After the Junkyard is closed, a group of restaurants also managed by Mario will be set up on site as of next year, offering a unique experience to the Lebanese. I will unveil more details about them in future posts.

In order to get to the Junkyard, go to Mar Mikhail’s street (As if you are heading to Burj Hammoud), turn right 100 meters after Chez Sophie restaurant right before the gas station (facing the bus cemetery), and then right again 20 meters into the corner.

I was in London last week when I decided to pass by the very popular Tate Modern Museum of Art. I’m not a big fan of museums but I went there hoping to see if the installation for the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was still on display. The original installation was removed but they had a smaller version in one of the rooms upstairs which was still cool to see. After leaving that room and I was wondering around slightly bored when suddenly I spotted a black plastic watch with a picture of General Aoun on display. I froze and was like WTF? And then I looked at the tag underneath it and read Omar Boustany which is a friend of mine and I just cracked up. If you knew my friend you would understand why it was funny to see his name under this object but I was still bewildered to what my friend and this General Aoun watch were doing at Tate.

Turns out I walked into a room where Lebanese artist Lamia Joreige was exhibiting her work on the Lebanese war and “how memory and trauma can be embodied in personal objects”. Walking around the exhibit I saw various objects ranging from obvious war related ones like radios, flash lights and empty plastic gallons to more personal items like a book or a key. It was pretty interesting to check out.

I left the room and continued walking around the gallery when I spotted some interesting black and white photos on the room. The one that grabbed my attention specifically was of “abou 3adal”. So I checked the description on the wall and it turned out to be a room full of photos by a Lebanese photographer called Hashem el Madani. Hashem was a studio portrait photographer who began working in Saida back in 1948. The photos were chosen and taken from his studio by Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari. There were some really great shots which you could check out on the Tate website [Here]

Two rooms full of Lebanese work at the Tate. That’s a pretty cool accomplishment.

That’s some great news but a bit hard to believe to be honest. I wish they could provide more information as to what criteria are being considered when ranking those towns?

According to this list, Beirut is ahead of Las Vegas, Rio de Janeiro, Ibiza, Budapest and many others.

But in spite of its history of violence, Beirut puts great stock in having a good time. And thereâ€™s no shortage of trussed-up beautiful locals keen to be seen in Beirutâ€™s bars and clubs.

Donâ€™t even think about going out in Beirut before 10pm â€“ and even then, it had better be for dinner. Dancefloors are dead until around 1am.

While there are a raft of upmarket clubs around town â€“ such as Sky Bar, the ultra-glam venue affording a panoramic view of the Mediterranean coastline and boasting a filthy rich clientele of local celebs â€“ we prefer the quirkier nightspots. [TNT]